 Making change happen
Monash University Department of General Practice
27 October 2011
Attended by Christina Hagger, PHC RIS
This was an inaugural research showcase day for the Department of General Practice at Monash University convened by Professor Danielle Mazza. Presentations varied from knowledge translation and eHealth to women's and children's health and medical education.
Professor David Copolov, OAM, Pro‑Vice Chancellor of Monash welcomed delegates and spoke of the increasing importance of translational research relevant to end users. He acknowledged the challenges of research, particularly those facing general practitioners, which include an underdeveloped research culture, limited availability of research mentorship, inconsistent research funding, lack of a supportive research infrastructure and the insistent demands of patient care.
As the first Keynote Speaker, Associate Professor Dawn Stacey, from the University of Ottawa, spoke on knowledge translation to patients using patient decision aids (PDAs). PDAs are an adjunct to counselling which can provide information on facts/probabilities, clarify the individual's values/experiences and act as a support guide. PDAs allow patients to consider evidence strength and consider the benefits/side effects of each option. It is a process which allows them to work through the grey zone of their personal uncertainty about the potential risk and regret of preferred options.
Associate Professor Lyndal Trevena, University of Sydney, spoke on making smart decisions together: the role of shared decision making in knowledge translation. She outlined a typical day in her clinical practice as an example of the diverse issues facing general practitioners and the pragmatic implications of adding shared decision making (SDM) to an already busy day. She stated her personal strategy of linking SDM with David Sackett's (1996) original definition of evidence based medicine where he advised practitioners to integrate their individual clinical expertise with patient choice and the best available external evidence.
Dr Ian Graham, Canadian Institute of Health Research spoke of the importance of community engagement in integrated knowledge translation as a way of engaging potential knowledge users as partners in the research process to facilitate the shaping of relevant and meaningful research questions. He outlined the Café Scientifique model as a way to democratise science and facilitate regular, public interactions between researchers and members of the community.
 Sustainable population health
PHAA 41st Annual Conference
Brisbane QLD, 26-28 September 2011
Attended by Christina Hagger & Amanda Carne, PHC RIS
Sustainability is the word of the decade, whether is refers to population size, our environment or health and social systems. Views on what sustainability means for any of these topics are strongly held and we think need to be discussed.
This Conference did not disappoint with the Conference title and themes reflecting this topical issue. The plenary sessions’ speakers explored many of the issues from an international and Australian perspective:
- Plenary 1 - Public Health Systems (Professor Martin McKee, Professor Sally Redman)
- Plenary 2 - Supportive environments for Health (Professor Sally Macintyre, Professor Tony Capon)
- Plenary 3 - Health for Sustainable Populations (Professor Peter Newman, Professor Lisa Jackson Pulver).
The Douglas Gordon Oration was delivered by Professor Bruce Armstrong AM with a thought provoking topic titled "First do no harm!" Where next for prostate cancer screening in Australia?
Day Two commenced with PHAA's Special Interest Groups (SIGs) workshops. This was an opportunity to join the discussion as SIGs showcase public health issues that inform policy formulation and advocacy activities of the Association. Participating in the Primary Health Care SIG Workshop titled The 'Medi' - The 'Care' and The 'Local' was informative in respect to the history, complexities and challenges of Divisions transitioning to Medicare Locals. Participants were provided with a series of questions to debate ranging from: the capacity of Medicare Locals to address the determinants of health; to their ability to provide comprehensive primary health care and to build healthy communities.
The abstract and poster presentations were of a high quality, with the Conference wrapping up on the third day with a panel session of the plenary presenters chaired by Professor Andrew Wilson and Conference Resolutions established by the SIGs during the duration of the Conference.
Program and abstract information can be found at the PHAA website <www.phaa.net.au/41stPHAAAnnualConference.php>
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